Lalande, however, reassured him by telling him the young Huguenot was behind.
In a few minutes a great tumult was heard: it was the people hastening to welcome their hero.

Not a Protestant, except paralytic old people and infants in the cradle, remained indoors; for the Huguenots, who had long looked on Cavalier as their champion, now considered him their saviour, so that men and women threw themselves under the feet of his horse in their efforts to kiss the skirts of his coat.

It was more like a victor making his entry into a conquered town than a rebel chief coming to beg for an amnesty for himself and his adherents.

M.de Villars heard the outcry from the garden of Recollets, and when he learned its cause his esteem for Cavalier rose higher, for every day since his arrival as governor had showed him more and more clearly how great was the young chief's influence.

The tumult increased as Cavalier came nearer, and it flashed through the marechal's mind that instead of giving hostages he should have claimed them.